The release, which cites the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention‘s(CDC) National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES), notes that people who are exposed to mercury through amalgams have notably higher cases of genitourinary disease, where prevalence of the illness was attributed to the number of amalgam present in the body. In 2009, a study discovered that inorganic mercury levels in people have steadily been growing. The study, which used data from the NHANES, noted that mercury was detected in 30 percent of women aged 18 to 49 from 2005 to 2006. This data greatly differed from the one gathered from 1999 to 2000, which pegged detection rates at two percent. Data sampled from hair also revealed that 22 percent were exposed to dangerous levels of mercury, with some states such as Florida and New York having levels as high as 30 percent.

Mercury and your body: a very toxic combination

According to the CDC, exposure to mercury posesadverse effects to human health. Symptoms include neurological disturbances, memory problems, skin rash, and kidney abnormalities. Exposure to mercury has been proven to be detrimental to kidney functions, as noted by occupational and animal studies.

In a commissioned report by Health Canada, it was noted that an estimated 20 percent of the population suffers subclinical impairment in their kidney or their central nervous system (CNS) because of amalgam mercury. Exposure to inorganic mercury has been also observed to produce a dose-dependent cytotoxicity through creating increased levels of hydrogen peroxide, which is normally canceled out by pyruvate and catalase. Mercuric chloride (HgCl2), additionally, is known to debilitate the function of other organelles such as lysosomes that hold transmembrane proton gradient. It also decreases glutathione peroxidase in the kidneys while regulating heme oxidase function. The government puts mercury levels of 30 mcg/L as toxic; however, the chemical has been found to be harmful even at lower levels, and traces of mercury in a person’s urine is an indication of high retention of the chemical in a person’s body. (Related: Dental fillings are raising mercury in blood to alarming levels.)

A survey conducted to over 60 thousand dentists and dental assistants in the U.S. has shown that continuous exposure to mercury vapor and anesthetics resulted in higher cases of liver, kidney, and neurological diseases. A recent study in Scotland yielded similar results as well. Other studies have pointed out dental workers to have a higher risk for cancer, specifically in the lungs, kidney, brain and CNS. Moreover, mercury interrupts the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), they body’s chemical to provide energy, resulting in fatigue, digestive troubles, and the formation of porphyrins in urine.

Mercury has also been attributed to be a common cause of hyperthyroidism and autoimmune thyroiditis, with studies pointing a clear affiliation between the presence of thyroid antibodies in pregnant women and spontaneous abortions. This finding bolsters the connection maternal thyroid disease and babies born with heart, brain, and kidney defects, as metals have a tendency to cause mobile acidic situations which results in disease. A good measure for this is through urine, with normal acidity at about 6.8 on the pH scale.

In addition to this, studies have shown that mercury accumulates in the ovaries and testes. This inhibits the production of enzymes necessary in the production of sperm. The presence of mercury also affects DNA quality in sperm cells — resulting in lowered sperm counts, defective sperm cells and broken DNA in sperm cells for males. Women are prone to infertility and menstrual disturbances because of this. An estimated 85 percent of sperm produced by men have damaged DNA as a result.